Airport

We are at the airport right now waiting to board our flight. I can think of only one thing we forgot! The cord to download our pictures to the computer. Ugh! We'll see if we can find anything there that we can buy. At least our camera will hold a lot of pictures and I also brought my other camera with two flash cards with it. I think we remembered everything else.

Brian's sister is watching our girls this week and I think she was excited and ready for the week! Thanks to some great friends and family my girls have some play dates scheduled that should keep them busy and entertained!

Last night I called to confirm our flights and the man I talked to gave us better seats on the flight to Edinburgh. I am not for sure, but I am thinking he put us from coach to business class. That was nice and will be more comfy for sure.

So here's to a great first day of our trip!

Camp and Dance Recital

It's been a week! Girls camp--The University of Eternity--was this week and I had a great time. I didn't see any mice, so that was a nice treat. There were skunks but they didn't bug me or our cabin. Of course, we saw some less than desirable bugs, but nothing that was too bothersome. We went up on Monday and did certification--the best one probably being the dance we learned. My fellow "dorm" mom and I were grooving right along with the girls. It was fun.

Tuesday was hike day. I went with the 2nd years on a 5 mile hike. It wasn't too bad and the scenery was beautiful. It was also overcast, making it great hiking weather. There was more certification in the afternoon, but my other cabin mom didn't do the hike with them, so we switched off and I got to take a shower while they were at that. Nice. It felt great! That night was the wacky talent show. There for sure were some wacky talents. The best one though was a lip sync two girls did to "Start of Something New" from High School Musical. It was so entertaining and funny. After the talent show, the stake YW presidency did a faith walk where they talked about modern day pioneers and challenged the girls to possess certain virtues in their lives.

On Wed. I went with the 2nd years to the Tonto Bridge. It was beautiful. We thought we were going to hike down a little bit to some water where the girls would play, then we'd hike out. WRONG! Instead, we hiked through the bridge and continued on about a mile or so on a rocky, rocky hike. It was a lot of fun though.

That afternoon we had some ward time, so we had little kiddie pools of water, some salt scrubs and all the stuff for them to do their own pedicure. It was relaxing and fun to be with our ward girls, since we were all mixed up for camp. Then we assembled hygiene kits for humanitarian service. That night was Bishop's night where the bishops of each ward came up. The did a little "game show" where they showed pictures of each one when they were younger and they had to guess which one it was. After that we separated into wards and had testimony meeting and dessert that our Bishop brought up. Yum!

Thursday morning we got up, cleaned and left. I got home by 10:45 so that was nice. It was great to be home and see my girls and Brian. They did great while I was gone and Brian had fun with them. I came home to a clean house, too.

Friday night was Eliza and Libby's big performance of their mini musical "Magic." For the past 2 weeks, they've been practicing an hour a day. It was such a darling show. So, so cute! When the curtain opened, I thought Libby was going to run off the stage and cry--she looked so scared and had a quivering chin. But the music started and she got into it. Eliza was such a star and knew every move and was such an animated dancer. She did her line perfectly, too. The funniest part for me was when they did a move we call the "Perry," based on something Brad Perry from channel 3 does. Eliza did it perfectly; it was hilarious. You'd think I had taught her or something (wink, wink!). Actually my dad does it, too, and I'm sure she took some pointers from him! :) I was so proud of them, though. Libby did so well. She was excited and it looked like she had a lot of fun dancing on stage. I was so proud that she got up there and did that. For her, that is a big accomplishment. Brian had a Rush concert that night, so I had gotten a babysitter for Ellie and Hattie. So after the recital, Eliza, Libby and I went to dinner at On the Border. It was fun to spend time with them.







Today we did a few errands and our girls helped us pack for our trip. We also got to go to our new church building to put my stuff in the young women's closet. It is a beautiful building. And it's so nice being only less than 3 minutes from our house.

That's all for now!

Girls Camp

Signs of girls camp are all around!!

I am almost done getting ready.


Last night Brian and I went on date night. We grabbed dinner with some friends at Texas Road House. We had a great time chatting and chatting some more! Then I picked up some shampoo and conditioner at Beauty Brand's liter sale...liters are only $10.98. Then we went to Wal-Mart for the final stuff for camp.

Today Brian had a training for Kiwanis club. He is the secretary next year, so he had to go to training for that. So the girls and I went over to my parents' to drop some stuff off and to visit. My girls always have such a fun time over there. In the afternoon after we and Brian got home, we worked on moving the playroom over into the new room. The room is almost done. He put the door on on Friday, but it needs to be painted. Then it's just a little more tile work, texture, carpet stretched, tacked back down and touch ups. We also cleaned out what will now be Ellie's room and moved some furniture in there. We are excited how it is shaping up.

Late this afternoon we got dinner over at the resort. Every saturday they have a hot dog BBQ, so we did that, then Brian took the older three swimming. Hattie and I did a couple of errands. When we got home, we all worked a little bit, then the girls went to bed. Brian and I worked a while longer, and now I am sitting down to rest!

Fireside and Pasta Dinner

I forgot to mention the youth fireside we had on Sunday night. Actually Becky tells all about it on her blog. She talked a little bit about the importance of keeping journals, then had each person fill out a little written time capsule. It was a fun and easy way to document who we are at this moment. I think the kids enjoyed it and it was something different.

Today was full of paint fumes at our house. He got most everything painted and most of the tile down. It sure is taking shape!


Tonight I made one of my favorite dinners--Garlic Chicken Pasta. I love it because it can be eaten warm (which we did for dinner), then I usually have the leftovers cold. Yum! My friend Karolyn gave me the recipe and I love to make it! Libby even loves it--she had 2 servings tonight. Here is the recipe:


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SUPER YUMMY GARLIC CHICKEN PASTA

1 (16-oz.) pkg. Farfalle pasta (bowties)
1 c. heavy whipping cream
4-6 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
2-3 cloves garlic or dash of garlic salt
1 T. pepper
1/2 c. butter
1 lb. bacon (baked in oven at 400, then crumbled)
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
1 (12-oz.) Lawry's mesquite marinade with lime juice


Crock pot chicken and bottle of marinade on low for 6 hours. Boil pasta. Cut chicken ( I do with kitchen scissors). Melt butter, add garlic, whipping cream, pepper and Parmesan cheese. Whisk together on low heat for 3-4 minutes. Add pasta, chicken and bacon and toss together. Serve immediately and ENJOY!

Today Eliza and Libby started a mini-musical workshop. A girl who just graduated from college puts it on every year and teaches a small group of girls some songs with dance and they put on a show at the end of the 2 weeks. I can't wait to see it!

It's Midnight...

and I don't even have my PJs on yet! I've been going non-stop since we got our girls to bed.

Girls camp is next week, so I've been busy trying to get everything ready. Today my mom came over to help me make headbands for the girls in my cabin. Hattie was our model for the picture! I think they turned out so cute.



I think I need to make some and sell on e-bay...along with my burp cloths. Think there'd be a market for that? I've also made a couple of other things to give the girls...I'll have to take a picture tomorrow. I am nearly done getting everything ready.

Other than getting camp stuff done, I am pretty well done with the next Autumn Leaves book that I've been working on. It's called Enjoy the Process--a book being led by Rhonna Farrer. I am also caught up on Heidi's class I am editing. It feels good to be caught up. I know as soon as I say it, things will get busy, but it feels good right now!

Saturday was our 7th anniversary! We enjoyed the day watching the dry wall guys texture our walls. We also got to go out. We got some dinner at Chevy's (we love their salsa), then we tried to see Harry Potter, but it wasn't playing at the AMC we went to. Weird. So we looked at some books about Scotland at Barnes and Noble. Then we got some ice cream at 31 flavors.

The home remodel is coming along. Today he painted the floor boards and primed the walls. Tomorrow is paint and tile.


Eliza went with Brian to work today. He said they didn't get much done but they had a fun time. She helped Aleeda do some things, but mostly they played, went to lunch, etc. Eliza really enjoyed herself though!

I'd better go get my PJs on and go to bed!

Layer of Dust

(I didn't have time to turn a couple of the pictures, so you'll have to tilt your head!)
I feel like we are living under a thin layer of dust as we get our den enclosed. Day one of construction started yesterday. He framed it in and started demoing part of it to make the new entrance. Today he made the door entrance a little bigger to make room for the new door that will be a couple inches wider than the one that was there. I was a little nervous about how it all was going to play out and look, but I am happy with how it looks so far. It seems pretty natural looking to me and flows nicely. Tomorrow the drywall will be done, then it's tile, trim, paint, etc.

Today I took Eliza and Libby to Water World. I got a babysitter for Ellie and Hattie this time and just took the older two. We had a great time. They spent a lot of time in the kid area, and we also went on a couple of big slides. They both loved it! We also splashed in the wave pool and went in the lazy river. I think I spent too much time in the sun and didn't drink enough water, because when I got home I got a migraine. Ugh! So Brian came home a couple hours early and let me try to get rid of that. It's mostly gone now--my head is just a little tender.

OK--gotta go finish a book so I can focus all next week on getting ready for girls camp and getting ready for our trip to Scotland. When we get back from that, we'll be getting Eliza all ready for kindergarten.

Oh yeah...on Wednesday for mutual we went to the lake for a boating activity. I hadn't been to the lake since I was in mutual. It was a lot of fun. I did some tubing and I am still SO sore. This morning when my alarm went off, it was the song "Everybody Hurts." It couldn't have been any more perfect for me!

4.5

Can you believe I am already almost 4 and 1/2 months old? The time has gone fast--or at least that is what I hear my mom saying. She also says that I am a pretty good baby. She only started saying that once I got some good sleeping patterns down. I usually wake up around 6:30 or 7:30 and eat, then I get to sit in my bouncy chair and watch Baby Einsteins while whoever feeds me goes back to sleep for a little bit. Once every couple of weeks, I like to wake up at 3:30 and see who gets up to feed me. I usually hear a little muttering and then talking back and forth, then I see my dad ready to feed me. I get to see my mom sometimes, too, when I wake up that early. I can tell she isn't thrilled that I am up, so I don't try that trick too often.

I really love my sisters. I am glad my mom watches Ellie closely when she is around me. She is nice and likes to try to put my pacifier in or clean my face with me burp cloth. Sometimes she can be a little rough, but I don't think she means to. Libby loves to spend time with me. She holds my hand all the time. She also loves to sing with me or just sit by me. Eliza feeds me sometimes, but usually she is too busy coloring or setting the table all cute. She is good at that.





OK--this is long enough for me. I am getting tired. Good bye.

Friday-Sunday

Friday:
We spent part of the day cleaning--I like going into the weekend with a clean house. That night Brian and I went on our date. We checked Old Navy and got some school clothes for Eliza, then we had to get a couple items at Costco. Dinner was at Elephant Bar, then we walked around at Cibola Vista just to relax a little and so I could get some good spots to do some photo shoots there.

Saturday:
We did some things around the house. Eliza and I went to Kohls. They had a ton of clearance...I picked up some shirts for my girls for like $2.50. I got some capris for $6.50. Fun! Then we went to Wal-Mart for some groceries and for stuff for girls camp.

That afternoon we all went over to the resort to swim. They were having hotdogs, chips and lemonade, so we picked up an early dinner. We had a lot of fun there.

Sunday:
Today started early for me at my meeting before church. Brian is so good about getting all our girls ready and bringing them to church. He is amazing. Church went well. We didn't have to go out with anyone, so that is always a good day! I taught in young womens. The lesson was about sustaining missionaries through letters. I thought that was perfect for me to give since I did that for two years (or so I hope!) while Brian was in Venezuela.

This afternoon we went to my parents' house for dinner. Actually though, we had breakfast for dinner. That is always a fun change. The kids had a great time playing and got along great. Ellie has just been so cute lately. ...Saying thank you after everything or "yah" when she wants to do something. She is just a joy--as are the other three. Hattie was laughing this afternoon when my sister-in-law was holding her. ...that cute baby belly laugh. I love it. Of course, when I brought out the camera, she stopped! Libby is such a sweetcake. She can be stubborn, but if you just give her some time, she'll conform and share a toy or whatever it might be. She has a funny sense of humor, too, that we get a kick out of. Eliza is so caring and sensitive. She definitely has her difficult times and does things that make me want to pull my hair out, but Brian and I spent all of dinner talking about her and ideas of what we can do. The past two days have been a big improvement. She is also so creative and loves to do art. She is also surprising me with her desire to read and how well she is doing sounding out words.

Eliza did say a funny tonight. Her lesson in church was about missionary work and she had put her scriptures in her little purse and her teacher had given her a little sticker that looked like a missionary tag. She put that on the outside of her purse. Well, tonight she said, "Can we go to Jesus.com?" I was thinking--is that even a website, how did she hear about it, etc.... I said, "What's that? What is on that?" She said, "I just want to learn more about Jesus." Ha! I guess she thinks/knows you can get information off the Internet so I guess Jesus.com would have info about Him. It was a good laugh. I guess you had to be there.

Happy week!

Happy 4th!

Yesterday morning started with us going to our Bishop's house for the annual 4th of July breakfast. The girls looked cute in their little 4th of July Disney shirts I picked up last year. The highlight of the morning (for Eliza at least) was riding on a fire truck. Someone in our ward had one there to entertain the kids. I took Ellie on it, too, and she wasn't so sure about it. She didn't cry, but she was glad to get off. Brian and I decided that we'd take advantage of him being home so I could get some work done on the book I'm doing. (They decided to have it printed in China, so they moved all the deadlines up.) So to allow me to get something done, Brian took Eliza, Libby and Ellie on a little outing. They went the back way up to Prescott and had a little picnic lunch under a big oak tree and had some ice cream from one of the little stores right there on main street.

While they were gone I actually got a lot done! I had to take a little break to take a birthday gift to one of my young women and to go to Target. I got the ingredients to make these to take to Brian's parents' tonight.

For our 4th festivities, we went to Brian's parents' house and had pizza. Then we swam. We even got Hattie in. She seemed to really like it. Ellie love it too. She is just so crazy in the water. It's so funny to watch her. After swimming, we had some sweets and watched the fireworks in their backyard. They have a good view of the ones at Peoria Sports Complex. Ellie watched for a little bit and wasn't to sure about them. I even got Libby out there for a little bit, too. Miraculous! It was a great show with a great finale. When everyone was in bed, we watched "A Capitol Fourth" on channel eight.

Rewind to this past week...let's see...on Tuesday I went on a photo shoot with Natalie again. I love watching her in action and learning more and more. Gosh. I am really bad or just really tired because I can't remember anything excited we've been up to. ...a little swimming here and there. Pedicures. Eliza gave me a "pedicure" on Monday. She even drew painted a flower on my toe. After that, Eliza and Libby had fun painting on some paper plates with acrylic paint. Eliza came up with some fun designs. She is so creative and imaginative.

This morning was art class--we got a late start but we made it to their class--only a few minutes late. Hattie had her 4 month well-check this morning, too. It was a bit crazy taking them all. Ellie was a handful! She kept trying to escape from the room and was just a little rambunctious. But Hattie is doing great. She is 25" and 14.5 lbs. She is filling out and growing so fast!

Now here are some fun pictures from the past week or so:


Poor Ellie...she is our rough and tumble girl. Here is her lip wound from Water World. She is all healed now.


Vacuum #35. Ha! We will try yet another one. After this we are going to an Oreck! I like this one so far though. (That's what I said about the last one!)


Poor Hattie. Libby was playing with her.


Ellie sleeping on their adventure to Prescott.